Stage 2 is definitely the hardest looking stage in this race. The profile is pretty boring, except the final climb, which summits only 8 kilometers before the finish line, meaning the rider who's first over the top could very well be the winner of the stage. The final climb, Alto Collado Bermejo, is 8.5 kilometers long, and it averages at 6.0%. The hardest part of the climb is the beginning of it, where the riders will face slopes steeper than 11%. The favourites for this hilly stage are Jan Bakelants Yuri Trofimov Simone Ponzi
Especially Bakelants and Ponzi will need to gap most others on Alto Collado Bermejo, as neither of them are great time trialists.
The stage is 179 kilometers long, that doesn't scare Ortega Lejman
to try their luck in an early attack. Santander looks really determined to show off their jersey in their home country. Del Nero came really close to the stage win yesterday, can Ortega sneak home a victory from a breakaway today?
A bit later, El Fares Pires Teklehaimanot
picks up the chase. The peloton seems confident in letting all 5 ride away.
Reynes Paterski
follow next, but Wiggle doesn't like the thought of 7 men up front, and they start chasing.
And Wiggle proves they want to defend Ponzi's yellow jersey, they catch the breakaway, and when they do so, they also take the foot of the accelerator, meaning the peloton is looking like one big mess, only waiting for other brave attackers to try their luck.
And indeed, it doesn't take long before El Fares Paterski Teklehaimanot Lejman
try their luck again. But they aren't completely on their own, Moletta Voss Fedrigo
join the fun, meaning we have 7 men up front.
The intermediate sprint is hotly contested, all 7 want to get those 6 bonus seconds. But it is Moletta
who sprints best and takes 6 seconds. Paterski El Fares
are closest, and rewarded with 4 and 2 bonus seconds.
With 130 kilometers to go, 3 more riders join the breakaway. Their names are Pinot Mayo Terciado
Which means we have 10 riders up front now, and Wiggle seems confident to let them go.
The breakaway rolls on, they co-operate well, and with 80 kilometers left, their advantage is 5'45 over the peloton.
Sony Ericsson and Santander doesn't look to happy with this situation, and Anza
attacks with 60 kilometers to the finish line. Ventoso
hesitates a bit, but he decides to go after him, but he has to settle 15 seconds behind Anza. The distance between the breakaway and the peloton is now 3'22, it looks like we will have an early catch today.
10 kilometers later, Wiggle takes completely charge of the peloton, really determined to defend Ponzi’s jersey. They are continuing to control the breakaway well, the gap is now down to 2’35.
Halfway up the first climb of the day, the breakaway is still together. This climb isn't as steep as Collado Bermejo, but at least it's a good warm-up for the action that has to come later!
Going over the top, and Paterski
takes the 10 KoM points on offer. That gives him a good chance at claiming the climber's jersey at the end of the day, but he will need to be ahead of the peloton on the final climb aswell. Teklehaimanot Fedrigo Terciado Pinot
take the remaining points (8 - 6 - 4 - 2).
Right over the top, Anza
joins the breakaway, a great solo chase from him. And Anza isn't a rider you want to have 2 minutes ahead of you hitting Collado Bermejo, the peloton has to chase harder here.
Back in the peloton, Kangert
has taken over the chase, and leads them over the climb. It looks like Pearl Adidas is trying to set something up for their big star, Bakelants. They are 2'16 behind the 11 up front, and the peloton is down to 72 riders. All the favourites are still here.
Going downhill after the first climb, the breakaway took advantage of the wet roads. When they start the final climb, Alto Collado Bermejo, their lead is 1'40, meaning the peloton has only taken 35 seconds on the last 18 kilometers. But this climb is really testing, and they can't look much at each other before the peloton flies past them. It is Pinot
who does the pacing at the bottom of the climb.
The peloton starts the climb, Ventoso is caught, and Bakelants
attacks! We're on the steepest section of the climb, the road rises with more than 11% here, and Bakelants is flying compared to Plaza, who sets the pace for the rest of the favourites. He's looking more and more like superman here!
But apparently, Bakelants wasn't that strong. Schumacher
flies past him, chasing the breakaway riders. Trofimov Tenorio
follow behind Schumacher, and they're about to fly past Bakelants aswell.
But Bakelants is clearly a clever rider. He stopped his acceleration to force Schumacher to the front, and when Trofimov goes past him, he immediately locks in on his rear wheel, following the attack. Clever tactic from Bakelants.
It only takes 3 kilometers of climbing before Trofimov
leads the race. He was the strongest of the favourites attacking, and he's leading the breakaway riders. Schumacher Bakelants
is at the back of the group. Tenorio follows a few seconds behind.
But an extremely strong chase from Gesink
brings it all back, only 3500 meters before the summit. Who will attack next?
Surprisingly, riders from the earlier breakaway, Terciado Pinot Anza
are the next to attack. And their attack is surprisingly strong. They quickly gain a decent gap.
But with 2700 meters to the top, Bakelants goes again! And this time he isn't playing any tactical tricks, he's all in for it.
Byt "everybody" wants to follow Bakelants' move. Trofimov
leads the counterattack.
And crossing the summit of Alto Collado Bermejo, it's Schumacher
who leads the way. Being first over the summit also secures him the climber's jersey, the reward of 16 points was more than enough to grab that jersey on the final climb of the race. He's closely followed by Trofimov L. L. Sanchez Bakelants Gesink Tenorio Ponzi Terciado Boasson Hagen
They're holding a small gap to what's left of the bunch.
It's Phinney
who desperately leads the chase. To catch the front 9, he will need to go 22 seconds faster on this dangerous, wet downhill.
Phinney gets unexpected help, and with only 4000 meters left of the stage, Chavanel
makes the catch. One could ask why, Gesink was up front, in a perfect position both for the stage and for the overall win.
Behind, Abal Coppel
lost touch with the front group over the top, and they're desperately chasing here. Both are great time trialists, so it could be vital for them to make contact with the fairly big favourite group, but it looks like that's too much to ask, they are a good minute behind. More bad news for Milka though, as their best puncheur, Efimkin
is holding on to Coppel's wheel for dare life on the downhill. He was terribly positioned on the climb and he's paying for that now, because on paper, he's far too good to be dropped by the front group on such a climb.
Back to the front, 50 riders have made it, they're all with a chance to win this stage. Chavanel catching Gesink and other favourites doesn't look like a bad idea now, the sprint starts, and Jack Wolfskin dominates the front! Chavanel
leads out, he's followed by Plaza
The trio from Pearl Adidas is doing what they can to pass Chavanel and Plaza, but that's easier said than done. The three riders from Pearl Adidas are Vastaranta Kangert Samoilev
1000 meters to go, and the Jack Wolfskin duo still leads, quite comfortably. Is Chavanel heading for a surprising victory here?
But no, Trofimov somehow managed to find a way to pass all the others in the sprint, and he takes the win on the line, a wheel ahead of Chavanel. His great kick secured him the stage win!
Then there's a photo finish for 3rd, Plaza barely holds on to it, a few inches in front of Bakelants.
Sanchez gives wild card team Cerne a 5th on the stage, ahead of today's surprise, Terciado, in 6th.
Ponzi's 8th was enough to maintain the yellow jersey, but he's now on the same time as Trofimov. It's all going to be decided in tomorrow's time trial! There was a lot of good time trialists coming home in the first group today, Phinney and Zabriskie amongst them, they must fancy their overall chances before tomorrow's crucial stage.
